Finding Mr Right Now: The Right Now Series Read online

  Gemma turned those big blue eyes on me, pleading with me to stay and help, before she looked back to him, completely ignoring his outstretched hand.

  “No.” Gemma’s voice was gentle, but firm. “Bastian is in no condition to drive either. And I don’t need anyone to ‘get me’.” She dug her keys out of her purse and turned to me. “You can go inside. I’ll be in, in a few minutes.”

  Geoff stared at me in disbelief, almost as if he were daring me to go in the house. He stepped forward to take the keys from her hand and that’s when I smelled the alcohol on his breath. “There’s no need for that, I can call him a cab,” he offered.

  “If I need to, I can call for my own cab, Geoff.” I answered in response even though he was talking to Gemma.

  If he thought for one second I was going to leave her alone to deal with this situation, he was clearly mistaken. I wasn’t going anywhere until she wanted me to. I stepped in between them, partially shielding her from his view. Her hand reached up and touched my shoulder.

  “It’s ok, Baz. Go inside, I’ll be right behind you.” Her words were spoken softly, but with a finality that left no room for debate.

  “I’ll be right inside if you need me.” I took the keys from her hand and turned towards the front door.

  7

  Gemma

  I watched as Baz turned to the house. He kept his eyes trained on Geoff until he got to the door, his concern for me obvious on his face.

  “I’m still waiting for an explanation, Gemma. I think you at least owe me that much.” His jaw clenched and unclenched as he waited. And he was right, I did. I was really shitty and I pretty much blew him off today. I just didn’t know what to do then, but now, everything was so much clearer.

  “Look, Geoff, I’m sorry I didn’t get back to you earlier in the way you wanted. You’re a great guy,” I started.

  “Wait, are you kidding me? You’re blowing me off? For him?” He sneered as he tilted his head towards my house. “Don’t tell me I’ve waited patiently all this time, for nothing?”

  His words were ugly, and made me think of my ex. “This has nothing to do with him. I’ve been friends with Baz for years. You know that. We went out tonight, as friends.” Even though he’s the only one who makes you feel that spark you’ve been longing for… damn that little voice for intruding. I shook my head to clear it.

  “This,” I gestured to the empty space between us, “This just isn’t working. I just don’t feel about you the same way you feel about me.”

  “Are you serious right now? This has everything to do with him. Can’t you see you’re in love with him? It’s so completely obvious.” His words were laced with bitterness.

  I shook my head at him in disbelief. “You’re wrong.” Is he?

  “Am I?” His question hung between us.

  “Yes.” Maybe, the voice in my head whispered. My outside voice came out strong. I was trying to let him down easy, but he was making it hard to do, especially in my inebriated state. “You’re an amazing man, but I just don’t have the type of romantic feelings for you that I think I should have.”

  “How would you know what you feel? You won’t let me close enough to see how good we could be together.” His words were clipped with annoyance. He reached out and tried to pull me into his arms. My hands instinctively went up between us and I pushed him away. He quickly looked to the ground, shaking his head. His hurt was evident, but his anger more so.

  “I don’t need to have sex with you to know that it’s not working, Geoff. I’m sorry if you feel like I misled you. That was never my intention. You really are a great guy, and someday you’ll find an amazing woman who will be able to give you everything I can’t. This really has nothing to do with Bastian.” I placed my hand on his forearm to soften the blow. Out of my peripheral vision I could see Baz watching everything out the front window, his arms crossed over his chest.

  “You actually believe that, don’t you?” He shook my touch off. “You can lie to me all you want but, word of advice, maybe you should stop lying to yourself. Good luck with everything, Gemma.” He turned, got in his car and quickly reversed out of my driveway. I watched his taillights get smaller as he drove away. Someday he’d see this really was for the best.

  I walked into my house with my head hung and kicked off my heels. Baz pulled me into his strong arms. My arms instinctively wrapped around him as I laid my head on his hard chest, and listened as his heart pounded beneath my ear. The sound helped to alleviate the tension I felt.

  “You ok?” He murmured against the top of my head.

  “Yeah, it was the right thing to do, even if I felt bad doing it. I’m glad you’re here and I don’t have to be alone right now though.” My heart rate sped up at our proximity.

  “I’m proud of you for standing your ground. When I smelled the alcohol on him I thought we might have a problem, but thankfully his nice guy act isn’t a complete act after all.”

  “Yeah. See, he’s a good guy. Why couldn’t I feel more for him? You know how much I hate hurting people. It sucks. Maybe I should just give up on finding true love? Maybe you’re right. Maybe there really isn’t a Mr. Right. But maybe there could be a Mr. Right Now.”

  8

  Baz

  She pulled back and looked up at me. “You’ve seemed to figure out how to do it. So why don’t you teach me?”

  “Teach you what, exactly?” I cocked my head trying to figure out what she thought I had figured out so well.

  “Your ways,” she giggled spreading her hands out palms up in front of her body. “You’ve figured out how to go through life, enjoying each day, not worrying about tomorrow. You’re a free spirit, able to enjoy Ms. Right Now. I need help finding a Mr. Right Now that can break this cycle for me. I try to go with the flow when I meet men. I feel like I give them a chance to make me feel something. But then, when it doesn’t happen, I seem to find myself over analyzing everything. I guess the whole chemistry thing is a mystery to me. I know what I think I should be feeling. I read all these books, and I know they are just books, but I can still feel the intensity that exists between all the different characters.” She flopped down on the couch, exasperated. “When will I find someone to make me feel like that in real life?” She sighed and turned sad eyes in my direction.

  “I don’t know, Gem.” I dropped onto the couch next to her, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her against me in a sideways hug meant to soothe.

  I toed off my shoes as she sagged against me for a few seconds, absorbing the comfort that I offered. My hand easily slid up and down the top half of her arm. When my fingertips accidentally brushed along the outer edge of her breast, I felt her body stiffen and heard her breathing speed up. She shifted back, her hazy eyes finding my own. I watched as their focus moved to my mouth, and her tongue swiped across her own lips. Blood rushed to my cock. I closed my eyes to the temptress before me, drawing strength from the fact that we had been drinking and she was feeling vulnerable since she had just ended things with Geoff. I wasn’t going to be the asshole who would take advantage of his drunk best friend. She was way too important to me for me to allow that to happen.

  I settled, instead, for kissing her forehead and pulling her back to my chest. My heart pounded against my rib cage. As hard of a decision as that was, it was equally as easy. I wasn’t going to do anything to lose my best friend.

  * * *

  Gemma was naked above me, smiling down as she slid my hands into place over her full breasts. She was grinding against me, her moans spurring me on.

  “Yes, Bastian, yes! Right there, don’t stop. Fuck, yeah. You’re so fucking good at this.”

  Just hearing the words fall from her mouth, made me feel like a god. I had known it would be like this if we ever got together. I knew I would own her pleasure. I groaned, thrusting my hips deeper into her heat.

  “Baz?” Gemma’s sleepy voice penetrated my subconscious and I slowly opened my eyes, reality quickly replacing my dream. It
had been so real, and now here I was sprawled out on Gemma’s couch, her body snuggled perfectly up against me, and my cock hard as a rock and throbbing against her thigh which was thrown over me. I shook the dream from my head as I looked down at her.

  “Good morning. I guess we passed out here last night, huh?” My voice was deep and gravelly from sleep. Even though this was completely innocent, I couldn’t help the unfamiliar feeling of intimacy that washed over me. It was something different from anything I had ever experienced before.

  “We must’ve,” she mumbled quietly, placing her hand to her forehead and yawning loudly. As she squirmed to get up, her thigh brushed repeatedly against my hard on. The more she tried to avoid it, the worse it got. I groaned audibly at the pressure, then reached down and carefully extracted her from where she had been wedged tightly between me and the back of the couch. As soon as she was standing her eyes were trained on the bulge that housed my now painfully hard cock.

  “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” Her face turned the brightest shade of red I had ever seen and she covered it quickly with her hands and turned away.

  I swung my legs over the side of the couch. “No worries, Gem. It’s not your fault. You’re familiar with the term ‘morning wood’, aren’t you?” Yeah, let’s blame it on that and not the fact that I was having an X-rated dream about my best friend. I adjusted myself slightly as I stood. “Excuse me for a minute while I use your bathroom.”

  “Oh, yeah. Of course,” she kept her eyes downcast as I stepped around her.

  After last night’s admission, her embarrassment made so much more sense. How much experience does she have? I shook the thought from my mind as quickly as it entered. But as I stood over the toilet willing my cock to soften so I could pee, my dream came rushing back. How wrong would it be to stroke myself in her bathroom? Way wrong, I’m guessing.

  By the time I had finished up and headed back to the living room, I could smell coffee brewing. I wandered into the kitchen where I found Gemma standing in front of the open refrigerator. There were 2 coffee mugs sitting on the counter. She still had on the same clothes from last night, her hair was a tousled mess and she looked sexy as hell.

  “You ok with coconut milk creamer?” She leaned back so she could see me around the open door and held out the container.

  “Yes, ma’am,” I nodded, surprised that she had the brand that I usually bought on hand. “It’s what I actually prefer.”

  “Want me to make us some breakfast? I have eggs and bacon in here. Some veggies and cheese too. I can whip up some omelets.”

  “Sounds great, but don’t feel like you have to go to all that trouble on my account, I’m good with just coffee.” I took the creamer from her hand on my way towards the coffee pot.

  “I have to eat too, Baz. I don’t mind cooking for you. When’s the last time you had something actually homemade to eat? Literally homemade. Something that didn’t come from a box or a takeout container?” Hands perched on her hips, her head tilted and her brow arched at me in challenge.

  “I know how to cook.” I set the creamer down as I shrugged defensively, palms up in front of me. “I just choose to eat out most of the time because it’s easier.”

  “Way to sidestep the question. That’s it, I’m making you my specialty. You’re gonna love it, I promise,” she smiled as she crossed her finger over her heart. She was too adorable.

  “Well then, I guess now would be the best time to tell you that I don’t like eggs,” I watched as she paused, her hands already filled with a bunch of different ingredients. She set them down before she turned to me.

  “You don’t like eggs? How did I not know that? Like any kind of eggs? Who doesn’t like eggs?” Her big blue eyes were even larger than normal as she chewed on her bottom lip. “Well, um, I’m not sure what else I can make?”

  “Gotcha!” I laughed.

  “You jerk!” She swatted at me playfully.

  I grabbed her hand mid-swat and her momentum propelled her small frame forward against my chest. She looked up at me through her dark lashes and I could swear the sexual tension in the room could’ve been cut with a knife. I looked away and backed up a step, putting some space between us.

  “Sorry, it’s just so easy to get a rise out of you.” I chuckled. “I couldn’t help myself. I would love whatever your specialty is.” My hands formed a prayer configuration in front of my heart and I bowed my head in thanks.

  “I don’t know. That was sorta mean,” she looked to the ground as if she was debating. “Maybe you don’t deserve my specialty…” she sounded almost hurt, but I could tell she was teasing me.

  “Please, Gemma. I would be honored if you made me your specialty. I’m certain it will be amazing.” Everything else about her certainly was.

  “I don’t know,” she glanced away, looking indifferent. “Maybe if you say please again. Nicely.” She smirked as she looked at me.

  “Pretty please with a cherry on top.” I paused, and when she didn’t respond I could tell she was waiting for more, so I dropped to my knees in a pleading motion. “Please feed me, Gem. You said yourself you knew it had been forever since I’ve had a home cooked meal. Pretty, pretty please?” Groveling wasn’t anything that I had much experience with, but if it would make her smile the way she was now, I’d be more than happy to do it anytime she wanted.

  “I could get used to this, you on your knees, begging me,” her eyes got wide at her own insinuation, then she swatted her hand in front of her in an upward motion. “Ok. Get up. I’ll cook for you, but only because you asked so nicely.” She quickly turned back to the counter and her ingredients.

  I got up, laughing, she was adorable when she was flustered. “What can I do to help?” I asked, watching as she started opening containers, drawers and cupboard doors.

  She turned back, the whisk in her hand pointed at me. “You can get our coffee. I got the rest,” she winked.

  I poured the coffee and added our creamer. Another perk of being friends forever, I knew just how diluted she liked it. I set hers on the counter and took a seat at the island that was directly behind her perky ass.

  “Want some cooking music?” I asked reaching for the cordless speaker and powering it on, then I reached into my pocket for my phone to sync my Bluetooth to it.

  “Sure.”

  I settled on the Bruno Mars and More channel on AmazonMusic. She sang “Easy Come, Easy Go” and danced as she prepped everything. There was something comforting and familiar about the whole domestic scene that surrounded me, like this was totally normal. Just another day in our life together. Another day in our life together? Where’d that thought come from? Get real, dude. The longer I watched though, the bigger the smile grew on my face. When did I start thinking like that? I knew I should be hearing alarm bells sounding. Instead, all I heard was Gemma’s sweet voice singing along to the music.

  9

  Gemma

  While I sang along to “The Lazy Song,” Baz hummed along behind me, drumming his fingers to the beat on the granite. “No, I ain’t gonna comb my hair, ‘cause I ain’t goin’ anywhere, no no no no no no no no no oh”.

  I continued chopping and whisked everything in the bowl in front of me. I loved omelets. This’ll be known as my special dump omelet, I laughed to myself, because I had dumped in a bunch of ingredients from the fridge. I was a good cook, so I knew what went well together by instinct. I glanced over my shoulder and caught him staring at my butt, so I made sure to shake it a little more. I don’t know when I decided I thought it would be a good idea to start flirting with my best friend. But I did know he was the only guy I felt that spark with. Maybe I was confusing comfort for a spark, but somehow, I doubted it.

  Geoff’s words kept playing over and over in my head about how I was in love with Baz and was lying to myself. Was he right? I mean, yeah, I loved Baz. He’d been there for me anytime I needed a friend and confidant. He protected me. He helped me think clearly. We had fun together. He was hot. But was I in love
with him? I was going to have to ponder that one a bit more. Besides, even if I was in love with him, he was not a man who thought real love even existed.

  And I did.

  Stop obsessing. This is all a moot point right now. I need to call Harper. She’ll set me straight.

  “Treasure” played through the speaker as I dished out our food. I grabbed the salt and pepper, and sat next to Baz at the island.

  “Cheers.” I tapped my loaded fork with his and took a bite. I watched closely to see his reaction.

  “Wow, Gem. This is really good.” The look of pleasure that crossed his handsome features was enough to know he wasn’t blowing smoke up my ass.

  “I know,” I scoffed playfully, as I huffed on my nails and shined them on my shirt.

  “Either that, or it’s been too long since I’ve enjoyed something homemade,” he teased.

  “Hey!” I exclaimed, shoving his shoulder. But the man was hard as a boulder and barely budged.

  “Kidding! I was only kidding. It’s amazing. Although, I’m not surprised. You added all of my favorite stuff to this concoction.”

  “Yeah, well, what’re best friends for? You did me a solid last night, the least I can do is hook you up with an amazing breakfast this morning.” Speaking of last night. “So, uh, this party tonight. It’s like a dressy dress type of an event, or like a cutesy summer dress kind of event?”

  “I’m going to say more dressy dress, I think. I’m sure you’ll be fine in whatever you decide on. Besides, I thought you didn’t care what those, and I quote, judgy bitches thought of you?” He arched his brow at me, before proceeding to shovel in another bite of food.

  “You’re right, I don’t care. Well, maybe I do. Just a little. What if there’s someone there who might need to hire a wedding photographer or something? I always want to put my best foot forward.” Yeah, that’s it. It had nothing whatsoever to do with me wanting to look hot for Baz.